Book Review: None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

None of This is True is a psychological thriller by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell, published in 2023.

Lisa Jewell is the author of popular titles such as The Night She Disappeared and The Family Upstairs. Many of her books have been featured on bestsellers lists and some of her books have been selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club.

Lisa Jewell books are always such addictive reads. I actually don’t read that many thrillers but Lisa Jewell is a ‘must-read’ author for me.

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Genre: Thriller

Author: Lisa Jewell

Buy: Amazon | Waterstones

Published: 2023

Plot

While celebrating her birthday in a local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summers meets an unassuming woman called Josie Fair in the bathroom. Josie is also celebrating her 45th birthday. The two are surprised to discover, that not only are they birthday twins, they were even born in the same hospital.

Josie becomes obsessed with Alix as she realises just how different their lives are. When they bump into each other again, outside Alix children’s school, Josie proposes a new idea for her podcast. She says her story would be great for listeners as she’s currently on the cusp of a big change.

Alix agrees and although she finds Josie unnerving and strange, she puts her doubts aside. She can already tell there’s more to Josie than meets than eye. Her story is compelling and Alix is instantly intrigued.

However, as Josie starts to reveal some extremely dark secrets, Alix starts to wonder what she has got herself into. By that time Josie has ingrained herself into Alix’s life and her home.

Alix begins to worry about being too close to Josie, but is it already too late? Is Alix about to become the subject of her own true crime podcast?

None of This is True Book Review

Another brilliant book by Lisa Jewell! I absolutely flew through this book and had it finished in under 48 hours. It was such an addictive read and I couldn’t bring myself to put it down.

It reminded me of A Tidy Ending by Joanna Cannon with its unreliable characters and menacing undertones.

The book flips between both Alix and Josie’s perspectives and I enjoyed how we had an insight into how the two women saw each other. The book also includes transcriptions of the podcast and scenes from a Netflix documentary which made the whole story feel more authentic. The change in format really made the book feel like a true crime case.

The reader is left is no doubt that Alix and her family aren’t going to come out of this unscathed. From the clips from the podcast and the documentary, we know something is going to happen. This really heightened the sense of foreboding and as the book progressed the tension was palpable.

We know very early on that Josie has ‘issues’ but I loved how Lisa Jewell gradually showed us more and more of her story as the pieces slowly slotted into place. Josie obviously isn’t a likeable character but I also struggled to warm to Alix. I found it frustrating how she seemed to put her career and curiosity above the safety of her family.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. The claustrophobic tension had me gripped from the beginning and I couldn’t put it down.

What to read next

If you enjoyed None of This is True, I would definitely recommend reading more of Lisa Jewell’s other books. If you’re a fan of tense thrillers, I would also recommend Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister and The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley.